Pro-voucher group pushes for education savings accounts in Tennessee with new poll results

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A pro-voucher group says a recent poll shows wide support for 'education savings accounts.'

ESAs expand on school vouchers, which use public money to pay for private schools.

The poll question didn't discuss potential drawbacks, such as effects on public school funding.

According to a new poll by the Tennessee American Federation for Children, Tennesseans across all party lines support the education accounts, with the strongest support among Republicans and those in East Tennessee.(Photo11: File)

While it's still unclear whether lawmakers will push for legislation allowing education savings accounts in Tennessee, a pro-voucher group says there is ample support in the state for such a measure.

According to a new poll by the Tennessee American Federation for Children, Tennesseans across all party lines support the education accounts, with the strongest support among Republicans and those in East Tennessee.

"I would say that with numbers this high, I think, frankly, if you are a state elected official, you have to feel like you have a mandate that matches this enthusiasm. There are a lot of proposals on other issues that don’t have that type of support."

Poll asks voters whether they support ESA legislation

The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4.

A total of 625 registered Tennessee voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Those surveyed were asked: "Education Savings Accounts, also known as ESAs, allow parents to use their education dollars to customize their child's learning and development. Approved ESA expenses include technical training, K12 school tuition, or even special needs therapies from an array of providers, including public and private schools or tutors. Knowing this, would you support or oppose the Legislature passing an ESA program in Tennessee?"

Mitchell said the poll was limited on how many questions could be asked. The poll didn't touch on the cost or savings to districts if ESA legislation was enacted.

"It varies by school district," Mitchell said of the cost. "It gets in the weeds very quickly. It is hard to poll that."

According to the poll, 78 percent of those polled overall supported the accounts compared to 11 percent opposed.

As well, 85 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats polled support the idea. And 75 percent of independents support the idea, according to the poll.

The opposition was minimal, according to the poll, with 19 percent opposition among Democrats, 7 percent among Republicans and 16 percent among Independents.

The rest were listed as undecided.

And across the Grand Divisions, the poll says, support was high.

It showed 79 percent supportive in East Tennessee, 78 percent in Middle Tennessee and 75 percent in West Tennessee.

An expansion of a controversial measure

The accounts are broader in scope than school voucher legislation, which has been a controversial measure for years and gives public money to parents for private school.

School vouchers have seen plenty of opposition in the Tennessee General Assembly across party lines due to the potential impact they could have on public schools, given public funds for schools would be diverted to the vouchers. The measure has only come close to passage once, in 2016.

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In this file photo, Molly Handler protests outside the House chambers before a voucher bill came to the floor at the Tennessee State Capitol Feb. 11, 2016, in Nashville.(Photo11: Samuel M. Simpkins/The Tennessean)

But with Gov. Bill Lee in office, many supporters have seen an avenue to get a school voucher or education savings account legislation passed. House Speaker Glen Casda, R-Franklin, has pledged support for the savings accounts.

The state already has an education savings account program in place, but it is limited to students with disabilities. Legislation has been filed to expand that program.

A bill to create a new program, which the Tennessee American Federation for Children is helping draft, hasn't been introduced by lawmakers. Lee told reporters that he isn't sure yet whether it will be a part of his legislative agenda.

Lee noted that although the filing deadline for new bills is this week, the administration could use a holdover bill that can be rewritten to introduce a proposal. He couldn't say how many of those bills the administration has available to be used.